Little Falls transcript., 1887-02-25
CANVAS BACK AND TERRA.
i :.-.-- PIN. - - ~5t
Deli cacies that Flourish Nowhere 30 Well rs
... In Baltimore.

Baltimore Cor. Omaha Herald.
1t was the genial autocrat, DR.. OH
YER Wendell Holmes, who called Balti
more the gastronomic capital OF the
universe. It was he who suggested
chat the lady be taken from the Bat.
lie monument and a diamond back
serrapin put in her place, and that a
canvas back duck be stationed on the
Washington column. The other day
Editor Charles A. Dana, who is as
great an epicure as he is q journalist,
came over here from New York with
q party of friends.
"What has brought you here?" was
asked him.
"A canvas back duck. We came
to carve the wings and the breast OF a
canvas back. We adore your beauti.
tul ladies, bowto your artists. admire
your history, your public men, rev.
erence your editors, but your canvas
back duck is beyond praise and COM
parlson. Next to your canvas back
comes your Madeira. I have tasted it
before, and it IS as we'll with the duck"
The fame OF the canvas back is cos
mopolitan, but nowhere can it be found
cooked as we'll as in Baltimore. This
city, however, is more the market o1
the canvas back than anywhere else.
The great feeding ground OF the duck
is on the flats in and around the mouth
OF the Susquehanna river, and The cen
trail town OF the duck sho ters is Havre
de Grace,a lively little place, which the
Jesuits settled and which LAFAYETTE
named. The ducks come from Hud-
sons's bay and the far northern lakes.
They follow the edge of winter along
the Atlantic coast, leaving a few strag-
glers in the Hudson and Delaware riV-
ers, and arriving in great f1ocks at the
head of the 'Chesa peake. What es-
pecially attracts them is the e]uxur;ous
growth Of ya|lsneris, a juicy water,
cress which grows in submerged fields,
in all the muddy flats, shallow bays,
and estuaries in the neighborhood OF
the Susquehanna. This the ducks tear
up, and feed ravenously upon the ten
der roots. Nowhere else does the grass
grow so plentifully. On other food the
ducks have wild, 6shy taste; On this
they have that succulence which defies
competition Or description. They ar
rive on the grounds poor. but in a
short time they become fat. There
are several dozen kinds OF ducks found
in the bay, but the canvas back is
easily king Of them all. It's full grown
weight is three pounds. 1t is solidly
put together and a graceful flyer. The
greatest flights take place in the morn
ing before sunrise, and that is the time
the gunner does his most effective
work. Duck shooting is regulated by
stringent laws, to enforce which there
are special police maintained by the
state. Over 81 600 are paid annual
ly by gunners for licenses, and there
are several hundred men regularly en-.
gagged in the business of shooting.
President Cleveland gets his ducks di-
rect from Havre de Grace, and ship
ments are made every week to Eu-
rope, where there is a. growing fondness
tor this princely bird. Amateur duck
shooting is expensive. It costs all the
way from $40 to $50 per canvas back
for an amateur to en- Joy himselfin this
way, and then he does not always get
the ducks. This year the ducks have
been very scarce, and prices have
ranged from 81 to $40 pair. Dur
ing Christmas week the latter price
could not bring the supply up to the
demand
The diamond back terrapin is not q
handsome creature, but what it lacks
in beauty it makes up in worth. II is
packed full Of gastronomic goodness
Terrapin this year are as plentiful as
the canvas back ducks are scarce.
They feed on the same grass as the
canvas backs, and that accounts for
the unapproachable excellence OF their
flesh. A million and a half dollars
worth of them are taken out of the
Chesapeake every year, and they are
sent all over this country and to
Europe. "Maryland terrapin' is
dish that figures on the menu card OF
every great dinner or banquet. And
yet the terrapin's popularity is very
recent. Old records show that the
slaves of the State used to rebel be-
cause they were given terrapin instead
Of pork. Forty years ago John NJ.
Clayton OF Delaware, who was Secre-
tary of State in President Tyler's
Cabinet, bought them in guam
titles, paying 81 for an ox-cart
load, which he would have dump.
ed into his cellar like p ton of
coal, and which he used as the exigen-
cies of the table required. A half cen
rury ago the best terrapin sold in the
Annapolis market for twelve and q
hall cents each. Thirty years ago
they sold in Baltimore at IS a dozen.
Now they are worth $50 to $75 adoz-
en-, and they go all over the world.
President Cleveland gets terrapin from
Baltimore. So does Mr.. McLane,
United States Minister to France. So
do the rich English entertainers.
= Ihe season proper extends from
about the middle OF November to the
first OF April. About 500 men are en-
gagged in raising and catching them,
and 100000 terrapin annually are
made a sacrifice to mans appetite.
Terrapin farming has become a con-
siderable industry that viii grow to
much larger proportions in time. The
first farm was started in Somerset
county by the late United States Sen
ator Dennis, who began the enterprise
for his personal accommodation. There
are several farms in Calvert coun-
ty. The largest one consists of
salt water lake, MANY acres in
extent, and large enough to accommo-
date thousands OF terrapin. The
hatcheries consist of boxes partly
filled with sand, and are 80 arranged
that wheQ tho females enter they con-
not 60 out until taken out The
young terrapin are kept in the nursery
for ten months or year, because the
old masculine terrapin are said to